Running After Breast Cancer: Katie’s Diagnosis Story

Hi, I’m Katie. I’m many things: a mom, a wife, a professional, a new AMR team member, and I’m also a breast cancer survivor. I’ll be sharing my story here on Another Mother Runner as I get back into a regular running routine and train for a half marathon. I hope you’ll come along. Feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts in the comments section below.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Colorado when I found The Lump. After a fun morning at the pool, we came home, I turned on a show for my girls (6, 5 & 3) while I hopped in the shower alone—a luxury for us mamas. My boobs had been aching a little bit, so I was feeling around and to see what was going on when I found a hard, round lump in my left boob. After nursing 3 kids, my boobs were nothing more than sad, saggy sacks of tissue, so I immediately knew that something was wrong. I’m not one to be a hypochondriac, but I called my OB/GYN to be on the safe side and I got in to see her the very next morning.

My husband was at work, so I brought the girls to my appointment—armed with iPads & headphones—while she checked me out. She reassured me that it was probably nothing, but “let’s get you scheduled for a mammogram, ultrasound and most likely they’ll do a biopsy at the same time.”  Um, doesn’t sound like “nothing” to me, but ok. That happened the next day. And as I lay there during my biopsy, I looked up at the sweet Radiologist and asked him if he thought it was cancer—and he looked at me with the most compassionate eyes, and said, “Yes.”

During our trip to Mexico, right after I was diagnosed.

The next day we were leaving for a 2 week trip—1 week in NYC to visit friends and then we were headed to Mexico to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 70th birthday.  Even though I was scared out of my mind, I still boarded the plane with my girls the next day to head to NYC. We had such a fun weekend meeting up with friends, eating cookies from Levain and slurping milkshakes from Shake Shack that I almost forgot about my looming biopsy results, when my doctor called me first thing Monday morning and told me that it was, in fact, an invasive ductcal carcinoma. Shit.

My birthday celebration – I had chemo #2 that day.

Fast forward 6 months—I’ve completed five months of chemo, a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction, and I’m currently pumping up my expanders every few weeks until I get my permanent implants after ski season (#priorities). I’ll be taking Herceptin through the end of July. I just started running again and will be part of the TLAM Heart Rate Training Half Marathon Program, so I’ll see you ladies in there. While I’m much slower than I used to be and have to take lots of breaks to walk, I am so thankful that I have the energy to run again and enjoy the gorgeous Colorado sunshine.

About 2 weeks after my first chemo treatment my hair started falling out and I made an appointment to get my head shaved. My husband suggested that the we all go – at first I was hesitant because I thought it would terrify the kids, but it ended up being a really special experience for all of us. If my BC teaches them anything, I hope its to be brave, no matter what!

If my story can help anyone, my Breast Cancer was worth it. Check your boobs, no matter how old you are. I was 38 when I was diagnosed and Breast Cancer was the furthest thing from my mind. Everyone says that having cancer gives you perspective, and they’re right. I’m really trying not to sweat the small stuff—I’ve decided to take a deep breath when I’m about to yell at my kids (again), go out on more dates with my adorable husband and to go for a run when I have a break in the day instead of checking email.  See you on the trails—I’ll be the bald(ish) one with a big smile on my face.